The best way I can explain it .. Sarajevo is your favorite relative, the one you are always pleased to see and brings a smile to your face.  Sarajevo is charming, delightful and enjoyable  in every possible way.

I seem to be liking everywhere on this trip, and I suppose that is either good fortune or good planning.  Whichever way, it is just really great to be spending time in such a remarkable place.

Today I discovered the real Sarajevo, the one of beauty, culture and history.  It has recovered from the past; it does not deny the past but embraces it.  Most of all it offers so much more than I ever could have imagined.

This afternoon I went on a City Tour ~ now most of us can say we have done those in our time, but not like the one I was fortunate to take today.  Firstly there were just two of us to one guide; secondly it was free.  Two hours of a wonderful walking tour with an engaging guide  that made everything come to life.  She was knowledgeable, witty and gave a real insight into the city.  In Sarajevo go to Insider City Tours – you will always get more than you might expect.

On Sarajevo I just wanted to end with a joke from my tour guide which I thought was so ironic and funny… I love the black humour.

A Sarajevan had his ear shot off by a sniper during the Siege.  He and his friend were searching for the ear so that they could rush him to hospital to have it re-attached.  Whilst he was still frantically searching his friend found it, and started shouting “I know you may not hear so well, but I have found your damn ear”  .. the man replied “I don’t give a shit about the ear, I’m looking for the cigar I had behind my ear.”

Today I have learned a lot about Sarajevo, filled in a lot of blanks and some misconceptions. Underneath all the history is a truly great city.

I want to close my visit to Sarajevo with a beautiful story from 1992 that I learned about whilst here.  I’m sure it was reported well some twenty years ago, but I was too young at the time.  I can only imagine what impact this amazing story made… it is a story that is hard to believe, but true.

Sarajevo Breadline Massacre at Market on Sime Miskin Street

On May 27, 1992 news spread throughout central Sarajevo that a bakery had received a shipment of flour. Hundreds of people assembled in the market square waiting hours in line for bread.  Suddenly, shells lobbed from surrounding hills struck the square, leaving a large crater. Among the rubble were 22 dead men, women and children and more than 100 wounded.

Nearby, a man named Vedram Smailovic saw the destruction and ran to the square to help his fallen neighbours.  Unable to sleep, Vedran struggled with the senseless massacre of so many innocent people. He knew he had to do something, but what?

The Cellist of Sarajevo

Dressed in a formal evening jacket, Vedran returned to the square the next day and set a simple chair among the rubble. Although many people had returned to the square to wait in line for bread among the rubble, a quiet fell as Vedran played his cello.

He played the same song 22 days in a row, a day for each person who lost their life in the Sarajevo Breadline Massacre.

No outsider can really understand the reality of this amazing true story.  But to me it epitomizes the endless character of Sarajevo.  A character that remains to this day.  It is an incredible place.